INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Presenter: The history of thermal insulation materials is not as long as that of other materials, but the
necessity of insulation is as old as building activity. Thermal insulation plays a significant role in
buildings, great demands of thermal comfort result in a large amount of energy consumed for full-
heating for all rooms. In theory, every existing building can be thermal insulated, but each case needs to
be analysed precisely to determine the technological advantages and drawbacks and the costs. Thermal
insulation usually refers to the use of appropriate insulation materials and design adaptations for
buildings to slow the transfer of heat through the enclosure to reduce heat loss and gain. Thermal
insulations consist of low thermal conductivity materials combined to achieve an even lower system
thermal conductivity.

Today, common thermal insulators used in the residential and commercial are Fiberglass, Rock wool and
Mineral wool. Mineral wool is a superior insulation product. It has a higher R-value (measure of
insulating material’s resistance to conductive heat flow) per inch compared to fiberglass, of 22-37%.
Fiberglass is much more commonly used, partially 2 because of its affordability. It’s lightweight and easy
to install in a wide range of circumstances. Similar to fiberglass, Rock wool comes in easy-to-install batts
which are made from volcanic rock (dolomite, diabase and basalt) where its R-value is 3.0 to 3.3 per
inch. However, both Mineral wool and Rock wool are expensive, and are likely unavailable compared to
Fiberglass.

According to some studies, agricultural waste materials can be used as an insulation component. One of
the indirect by-products of rice is carbonized rice hull. CRH is produced by carbonization of the rice hull.
Research using CRH as an insulation was conducted and proved that it was effective in controlling the
indoor environment due to its thermal capacity and absorption/desorption effects. (CRH is an inorganic
substance and does not ferment). In a test of a Two full-scale mock-ups were constructed to verify the
indoor environmental control performance of the insulation material (CRH + glass wool). One was
insulated with the insulation material and the other was insulated with the glass wool. It is stated that
the thermal capacity of the CRH decreases the relative humidity and a large water holding capacity is
also known to have retained a low indoor humidity. CRH was therefore validated in order to be effective
in regulating indoor humidity

Further studies must be conducted to determine the right proportion for a best humidity and
temperature control insulation using CRH + Glass wool. The main purpose of this study is to further
investigate the ideal proportion of CRH to glass wool complex insulation with respect to humidity and
temperature control.
Related Studies:

EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH ON THE INDOOR ENVIRONMENT CONTROL OF NATURAL INSULATION

Presenter: In a study of Kyu-In Lee, specimens of Carbonized Rice Hull and Straw bales were
experimented to assess their performance as natural insulation to regulate the indoor environment.
Real-scale mock up rooms insulated with straw bales and carbonized rice hulls were constructed,
monitoring was carried out to assess the indoor environment control performance of natural insulation
materials.

EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH ON THE INDOOR ENVIRONMENT PERFORMANCE OF COMPLEX NATURAL

Presenter: The experimental research made by Eunseop Ahn, at the Ajou University, Korea investigated
whether the combined use of rice hull and carbonized rice hull (CRH) can offset the negative aspects of
each other, and can deliver an optimum indoor environment performance. The ASTM test results
proved that the rice hull was a Class A (or Class I) insulation material. In addition, it performs as a fire
retardant, and has shown strong material properties in water permeation and mould decomposition.
This study investigated the effect of a complex insulation material composed of equal proportions of rice
hull and CRH on the indoor environment. To achieve this goal, a complex insulation mockup and a
control mockup using a general insulation were constructed on a full-scale. Probe-type thermal and
humidity sensors were installed to monitor the indoor environment of the mock-ups. After a
comparative analysis was conducted, the results of the research are presented as follows: Analysis
showed that the heat capacity of the experimental mock-up was larger than that of the control mock up,
and therefore the experimental mock-up was more effective in controlling indoor temperature than the
control mock up. The experimental mock up 9 sustained a relatively high humidity due to the absorption
effect of the rice hull in addition to the relatively low sd-value. It was thus concluded that the correct
amount of complex insulation material is effective in controlling indoor humidity

STUDY ON THE INDOOR ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE OF COMPLEX INSULATION MATERIAL:

Presenter: In the research of Cheng-Ri Yin, the purpose of this study is to make a complex insulation
material with carbonized rice hull and glass wool and to verify the environmental control performance.
The complex insulation mock-up was able to control the indoor humidity at a comfortable level during
every season. The results have therefore verified that the carbonized rice hull was effective at
controlling the indoor humidity.

GANTT CHART

Our expected timeline for completion will depend on this sequence of operation:

Day 1-15 for Purchasing of Materials

Day 2-6 of the other month for process of Experimentation and Gathering of Data

Day 7-10 of the other month for Computation and Analysis of the Gathered Data